Every year, means another birthday, another Christmas, another Valentine’s Day, another Halloween, and many more celebrations. These days of joy and entertainment are a serious problem. You may end the day happy to have reconnected with old friends and family, with a full belly and maybe a couple souvenirs or gifts in your hand, but you’re also leaving behind a negative imprint on your environment. Many aspects of special occasions are contributing to the damaging, unsustainable matrix of environmental issues. One major celebration that women spend their whole lives dreaming about and most likely all their life savings is their wedding. With an average of 2 million weddings a year, and a market of $42 billion this industry has a huge economic and social impact.[i] “Each one of us believes or dreams that when such a day will come we will do something which we will remember all our lifetime; we want to fulfill all our wishes…we all want it to be a perfect day and everything has to be perfect whether it is our partner or the wedding dress, or the place, everything needs to be perfect.”(Lal, Jessica)[ii]
The majority of women believe their wedding day is not just an ordinary day. It is a day that occurs only once and is supposed to be the happiest day of her life. Society’s views on a wedding are what put the wedding day on such a high pedestal. It is not something women begin thinking about when they get engaged. It is something they fantasize and dream about from early childhood. From a young age women start to think about the perfect man, perfect dress, the perfect flowers, the perfect date, the perfect location, and the list goes on and on. In multiple studies of consumer psychology it has been noted that a person’s behavior is influenced by the image of the self. One study links sacrosanct beliefs to purchase decisions. The sacrosanct belief of the self is that, “the self is a moral, lovable, and capable individual; a person for whom fate has planned a benevolent future stuffed with largely happy events.”(Dunning, 328)[iii] The person’s choice is then made in an effort to maintain that happy and successful image of the self. Another theorist stated that, “The "self-image… is reflected in every human action, including the purchase of goods and services.”(Birdwell, 77)[iv]
Companies are using these human behaviors to market their products and increase sales. Their advertisements reinforce the need for the best, the most luxurious, and the newest of items. The use of beautiful happy models leads to the consumer correlation that these products give the buyer happiness and beauty. This human tendency and company marketing ploy lead to the uneducated and harmful purchases of the wedding essentials.
Each wedding essential leads to different causes of environmental issues such as pollution, land destruction and inhumane working conditions. The ring is made up of natural resources, which there is not an unlimited supply of. In desperation to meet consumer demands and for companies to continue to profit from the
Mine Map
industry, even the US is experiencing the damages. In March 2010, Ascot Company purchased a portion of Gifford Pinchot National Forest located near Mt. Helen in the state of Washington. The agreement is allowing the company to drill 14 holes of 5,000 meters into the grounds of the national forest.[v] The drilling is going to destroy the forest and the homes of the animals in that area. That perfect white wedding dress purchased from major wedding gown retailers is made in a sweatshop in some foreign country. The clothing industry continues to rely on sweatshops as the major form of production to reduce production costs. The process required to make clothing has kept the production process to the use of sewing machines operated by individuals. Sweatshops are factories where workers work long hours and are not compensated for the additional time and when workers wages are less than the cost of living.[vi] It is a human rights issue that has been a topic of concern for many years and yet is still completely legal in many countries. By purchasing these gowns, the bride is supporting this type of inhumane labor. Flowers in the bouquet and various decorations are polluting the environment and are harmful to humans. A common flower used in many bridal bouquets is a rose. In the US alone, over 1 billion roses are sold each year with over 60% of them coming from foreign countries. [vii] The roses are grown, watered, and sprayed with pesticides and then refrigerated and shipped to the US. The amount of harmful carbon emissions emitted in the shipment of these flowers across the globe is contributing to the issue of global warming. Pesticides, used in the agricultural industry continue to poison workers despite banning of some of the most toxic chemicals. Newer pesticides have been created that are less toxic, but the health effects on humans may not emerge until they are widely used over a longer period. In the countries where most of the US flowers come from, older cheaper chemicals continue to be used.[viii] These workers are being exposed to harsher chemicals, and we are unknowingly bringing the flowers with these harmful toxins into US homes. The wedding invitations are traditionally paper cards sent in the mail and contribute to multiple problem areas in sustainability.
US paper mills are still allowed to dump into US rivers. In the state of North Carolina, paper mills are allowed to dump 38,020 pounds of color into the rivers each day and thousands of fish are continually killed from the heat pollution released every day. [ix] The mills are creating heat and chemical pollution that affects the water system and sea life and end up affecting people. The ideal honey moon consists of traveling to a foreign country for a little piece of paradise after the big day. What most people don’t know is that most of these countries that are considered to be exotic locations are developing countries that do not have the resources to deal with the flow of tourists. As a result, many of these countries are dealing with serious pollution problems because they have no infrastructure to correctly dispose of the extra waste.[x]
The key players in this problem are you, the consumer with a celebration to plan, and the large retail companies you make your purchases at. All of these problems can be reduced by you, by making more educated decisions on the products purchased for special occasions like weddings. Look for products such as free trade diamonds, US organic flowers, recycled paper, vintage gowns, and environmental conscious resorts. Not supporting these unsustainable industries and companies will force these businesses to change. If everyone is buying only from local business or purchasing goods and services only from earth and human friendly companies, it will force the other businesses to conform to the popular demands. Included in the links below are some earth-friendly wedding planning resources and products.
Links Wedding Planning and Product Links http://www.greatgreenwedding.com/default.php http://green-wedding.net/blog/about/ Top 15 Green Hotels and Resorts http://www.travelersdigest.com/green_hotels.htm Mt. Margaret current satellite view and predicted view after mining http://www.brainygeography.com/features/WA.mine/diamondmine.html http://www.gptaskforce.org/conservation/mount-st.-helens-again-threatened-by-out-of-state-mining-interests
Images "Enchanted" screenshot from disneyfairytales.com Map of Mt. Margaret mine from source [v] Preperation for pesticide use and Pollution in the Pidgeon river from wikipedia.org
[iv]Birdwell, Al. "A Study of the Influence of Image Congruence on Consumer Choice."The Journal of Business41.1 (1968): 76-88.JSTOR. Web. 10 Oct. 2010.
[x]Kocasoy, Gunay. "The Relationship Between Coastal Tourism, Sea Pollution and Public Health: A Case Study from Turkey." The Environmentalist 9.4 (2007): 245-51. SpringerLink. Web. 23 Oct. 2010. <http://www.springerlink.com/content/f10317521566815r/>.
Many aspects of special occasions are contributing to the damaging, unsustainable matrix of environmental issues. One major celebration that women spend their whole lives dreaming about and most likely all their life savings is their wedding. With an average of 2 million weddings a year, and a market of $42 billion this industry has a huge economic and social impact.[i]
“Each one of us believes or dreams that when such a day will come we will do something which we will remember all our lifetime; we want to fulfill all our wishes…we all want it to be a perfect day and everything has to be perfect whether it is our partner or the wedding dress, or the place, everything needs to be perfect.”(Lal, Jessica)[ii]
The majority of women believe their wedding day is not just an ordinary day. It is a day that occurs only once and is supposed to be the happiest day of her life. Society’s views on a wedding are what put the wedding day on such a high pedestal. It is not something women begin thinking about when they get engaged. It is something they fantasize and dream about from early childhood. From a young age women start to think about the perfect man, perfect dress, the perfect flowers, the perfect date, the perfect location, and the list goes on and on. In multiple studies of consumer psychology it has been noted that a person’s behavior is influenced by the image of the self. One study links sacrosanct beliefs to purchase decisions. The sacrosanct belief of the self is that, “the self is a moral, lovable, and capable individual; a person for whom fate has planned a benevolent future stuffed with largely happy events.”(Dunning, 328)[iii]
The person’s choice is then made in an effort to maintain that happy and successful image of the self. Another theorist stated that, “The "self-image… is reflected in every human action, including the purchase of goods and services.”(Birdwell, 77)[iv]
Companies are using these human behaviors to market their products and increase sales. Their advertisements reinforce the need for the best, the most luxurious, and the newest of items. The use of beautiful happy models leads to the consumer correlation that these products give the buyer happiness and beauty. This human tendency and company marketing ploy lead to the uneducated and harmful purchases of the wedding essentials.
Each wedding essential leads to different causes of environmental issues such as pollution, land destruction and inhumane working conditions. The ring is made up of natural resources, which there is not an unlimited supply of. In desperation to meet consumer demands and for companies to continue to profit from the
US paper mills are still allowed to dump into US rivers. In the state of North Carolina, paper mills are allowed to dum
The key players in this problem are you, the consumer with a celebration to plan, and the large retail companies you make your purchases at. All of these problems can be reduced by you, by making more educated decisions on the products purchased for special occasions like weddings. Look for products such as free trade diamonds, US organic flowers, recycled paper, vintage gowns, and environmental conscious resorts. Not supporting these unsustainable industries and companies will force these businesses to change. If everyone is buying only from local business or purchasing goods and services only from earth and human friendly companies, it will force the other businesses to conform to the popular demands. Included in the links below are some earth-friendly wedding planning resources and products.
Links
Wedding Planning and Product Links
http://www.greatgreenwedding.com/default.php
http://green-wedding.net/blog/about/
Top 15 Green Hotels and Resorts
http://www.travelersdigest.com/green_hotels.htm
Mt. Margaret current satellite view and predicted view after mining
http://www.brainygeography.com/features/WA.mine/diamondmine.html
http://www.gptaskforce.org/conservation/mount-st.-helens-again-threatened-by-out-of-state-mining-interests
Images
"Enchanted" screenshot from disneyfairytales.com
Map of Mt. Margaret mine from source [v]
Preperation for pesticide use and Pollution in the Pidgeon river from wikipedia.org
[i] "Wedding Statistics and Market Research for the Wedding Industry." WE TV Networks Wedding Report. The Wedding Report Inc., 2005. Web. 16 Oct. 2010. <http://www.theweddingreport.com/wmdb/index.cfm?action=db.viewdetail&brand=google&gclid=CP6px4Hd6aQCFeFN5Qod2Uu92A>.
[ii] Lal, Jessica. "The Importance of a Wedding in a Person's Life." Associated Content. Yahoo!, 1 May 2007. Web. 23 Oct. 2010. <http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/224488/the_importance_of_a_wedding_in_a_persons.html?cat=41>.
[iii] Dunning, David. "Self-Image Motives and Consumer Behavior: How Sacrosanct Self-Beliefs Sway Preferences in the Marketplace." JOURNAL OF CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY 17.4 (2007): 237-49. EBSCOhost. Web. 16 Oct. 2010.
[iv] Birdwell, Al. "A Study of the Influence of Image Congruence on Consumer Choice." The Journal of Business 41.1 (1968): 76-88. JSTOR. Web. 10 Oct. 2010.
[v] "Mount St. Helens Again Threatened by Out of State Mining Interests." Gifford Pinchot Task Force. Mar. 2010. Web. 23 Oct. 2010. <http://www.gptaskforce.org/conservation/mount-st.-helens-again-threatened-by-out-of-state-mining-interests>.
[vi] "Sweatshops FAQ." Global Exchange. 28 Oct. 2007. Web. 23 Oct. 2010. <http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/sweatshops/sweatshopsfaq.html>.
[vii] "Two-thirds of All Roses Sold in the United States Come from Colombia." PPI Trade Fact of the Week. PPI Trade & Global Markets Project, 7 Feb. 2007. Web. 16 Oct. 2010. <http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?knlgAreaID=108&subsecID=900003&contentID=254189>.
[viii] Keifer, Matthew, Frank Gasperini, and Mark Robinson. "Pesticides and Other Chemicals: Minimizing Worker Exposures." Journal of Agromedicine 15.3 (2010): 264-74. Medline. Web. 23 Oct. 2010.
[ix] Placeholder, Bob. "Canton Paper Mill Faces Opposition Over Pigeon River Pollution." Smoky Mountain News. 3 Aug. 2010. Web. 16 Oct. 2010. <http://www.smokymountainnews.com/index.php/news/item/437-canton-paper-mill-faces-opposition-over-pigeon-river-pollution>.
[x] Kocasoy, Gunay. "The Relationship Between Coastal Tourism, Sea Pollution and Public Health: A Case Study from Turkey." The Environmentalist 9.4 (2007): 245-51. SpringerLink. Web. 23 Oct. 2010. <http://www.springerlink.com/content/f10317521566815r/>.